The key to Shaun's success, apart from the dazzling technical proficiency and charming performances, is that director Edgar Wright is far too respectful of the living dead to make fun of them. People are funny, relationships and jobs, too; but zombies are no laughing matter. So when the pub landlord comes after our heroes to eat their flesh, it's still pretty scary.

But their response – beating him with various weapons, including a cricket bat, in time with Queen's Don't Stop Me Now – well, that's funny in anyone's book. Wright transferred much of the cast and a lot of the style from his excellent TV show Spaced to the big screen with great ease, and there's an unexpected emotional punch delivered by the older performers, Penelope Wilton and Bill Nighy. But it's the inventive visual gags, the energetic mugging and relentless one-liners from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost that seal the deal. This is a film with everything: comedy, romance, action, zombies.